


what's stopping you?

by duaazhh



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-12
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:35:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23610913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/duaazhh/pseuds/duaazhh
Summary: nini's at a party where she knows no one. all of a sudden, she hears ricky and a pretty girl talking. but he turns her down. what's up with that?
Relationships: Ricky Bowen & Nini Salazar-Roberts, Ricky Bowen/Nini Salazar-Roberts
Comments: 9
Kudos: 56





	what's stopping you?

**Author's Note:**

> post ep 8!

Parties. Flashing lights, awfully tasting cheap beer, people 'dancing' way too close to each other and stale chips. It sounded unappealing but to Nini, it was a defining moment of her high school experience. Even though the party was being thrown by her ex, E.J Caswell, Nini was going because she needed a distraction from everything that was going on.

They were only a few days away from opening night, and their tech rehearsal at the spooky El Rey Theater had been… interesting. Miss Jenn ended up having a breakdown, E.J made some questionable acting choices, and oh yeah, Nini and Ricky almost kissed.

Tying her shoelaces, Nini looked in the mirror and vowed to herself that she would have a good time at this party, even if was by herself. Kourtney had gone to her grandmother's house for the weekend, leaving Nini to go out and socialize all on her own.

"Have fun, honey! Be home by twelve!" Mom C called out as Nini came down the stairs.

Smiling at her moms, Nini nodded, grabbed her purse and was out the door.

She walked the semi-long distance to E.J's house to see several cars parked on the driveway, red cups littered all over the mowed lawn and people _everywhere._

Taking a deep breath, Nini walked into the house and was instantly greeted by Ashlyn.

"Hey, Nini! I'm so glad you could come!" Ashlyn looked slightly flushed and Nini noticed an almost empty red cup in her hand.

"Me too, actually," Nini said with a small smile.

"Well, I'm gonna go now. Red wants to show me something. But help yourself to snacks and drinks in the kitchen! See you later, Nini!" Ashlyn said and disappeared into the crowd.

Nini chuckled at her friend's behavior and went to the Caswells' ginormous kitchen. She stood over the kitchen island and snacked on salted pretzels. Looking around, Nini noticed she didn't really know anyone here. She was surrounded my seniors and members of the water polo team and E.J's friends from acting camp. She did recognize a few faces here and there but none of them were people she would want to strike up a conversation with.

Sighing, Nini pulled out her phone and was about to call her moms to tell them she was coming home when she heard a familiar voice.

"…tried to but all of a sudden, I slipped and the last thing I remember was my best friend's voice shouting my name out," the voice said with a light chuckle in his voice.

"Really? OMG, did it, like, hurt?" another voice said.

Nini looked up to see the one and only Ricky Bowen talking to a really pretty girl. She had waist length black hair, hazel eyes and a beautiful smile. Nini was pretty sure she could be a model if she wanted to.

Ricky also looked really good. Dressed down in a light blue hoodie, black jeans and black sneakers, he looked so cute and Nini couldn't help but smile at the sight of him. Overhearing a bit of their conversation, she realized that she missed him. A lot. She missed his ridiculous stories and his jokes and that twinkle in his eyes whenever he sang. Really, there was no getting over a boy like Ricky Bowen.

"Pft, yeah! It hurt like a lot! I was in the hospital for six hours before the doctors let me go. My mom was furious," Ricky narrated one of his skating stories to the pretty girl. Looking at them in front of her, Nini realized that they looked really good together and a wave of jealousy shot through her.

_No, come on, you're better than that,_ thought Nini. But she couldn't help it. Ricky looked so happy and he was laughing and that was really nice to see and to hear for Nini because she knew everything that he was going through and how much of a toll it had taken on him.

Shaking the jealous thoughts snaking into her mind away, Nini grabbed a coke out of the fridge and couldn't help but eavesdrop.

"So, uh, are you, like, free next Friday?" the girl asked.

"Why, what's up?" the ever so casual and oblivious Ricky asked in response.

"Uh, I thought we could maybe grab dinner and like watch a movie?"

"Oh," there was a pause. "I'm sorry, I like someone else."

"Ah, okay. That's okay." The dejection was clear in the girl's voice. "See you around, Ricky."

"Yeah, uh, you too," Ricky said.

Even though, Nini's back was turned and she was facing the fridge, she could guess that Ricky was now standing there, rocking back and forth on his shoes, looking around awkwardly.

Then suddenly, "You've been standing in front of the open fridge for quite a while now, you know."

Nini shut the fridge door with more gusto than intended to see a smirking Ricky, leaning against the kitchen counter.

"Uh, hey," Nini said, blushing.

"This party reeks," Ricky said in response.

Nini chuckled. "Honestly, yeah. They're all seniors and E.J's friends."

"I lost Red within the first two minutes. Where's Kourtney, by the way?"

"At her grandma's? Why'd you turn down that girl?"

The question was so sudden and unexpected, it shocked Nini.

Ricky raised his eyebrows and chuckled. "Were you eavesdropping?"

"No!" Nini exclaimed indignantly. "I just… happened to hear a bit of it."

Ricky nods as if to say _mhm, yeah, I believe you_.

Nini cleared her throat and looked at Ricky, who was now scouring the kitchen cabinets for food, expectantly. Ricky caught her looking and raised his eyebrows again.

"What?" he said. Getting the hint, he said, "Oh, that. I turned her down because I like someone else."

Chugging her coke out of her nervousness, Nini ignored the butterflies in her stomach.

Finally grabbing a jar of Nutella and a spoon, Ricky leaned against the counter again and watched Nini.

Nini looked at him and said, "What? Why're you staring?"

"Nothing, just curious as to why you were eavesdropping."

"And I'm just curious as to who this crush of yours is."

"Well, I mean, it's not a crush." Ricky took a step closer to Nini. "It's more of a 'I love her but how do I tell her' type of situation."

"Oh," said Nini softly, noticing the decreasing gap between her and Ricky. "Who is this girl?"

Ricky shrugged and looked into Nini's eyes as he said, "Just someone I know."

Playing along, Nini asked, "Well, does this someone love you back?"

Softly, Ricky said, "See, that's the thing." Leaning in, Ricky whispered into Nini's ear, "She told me she loved me but my dumb ass didn't say it back."

Nini lightly laughed at Ricky's beration and was going to say something when Ricky leaned back and said, "Now, I wanna say it back to her but…"

"So, what's stopping you?" Nini asked, looking Ricky in the eyes.

"Hm, nothing really," Ricky said and next thing Nini knew, Ricky was kissing her. His hands found her waist as hers went to the back of his head.

Pulling apart, both were breathless and wore smiles on their faces. Nini's hand was on Ricky's cheek when he said, "Oh, and Nini? I love you."

Nini blushed. "I love you too."

"Hey guys! What's up?" E.J's deep voice boomed through the kitchen as he walked in with some of his friends close behind.

Ricky and Nini separated, blushing furiously.

Scratching the back of his head and smiling sheepishly, Ricky replied, "Nothing much, man. How're you?"

E.J smirked. "I'm good. Why're you blushing, Bowen?"

Ricky instantly looked down. "I'm not blushing, heh."

From his side, Nini said, "Oh, come on, you're totally blushing, Ricky."

Ricky shot Nini a dirty look and looked at E.J who scoffed and said, "Dorks." He left, leaving Ricky and Nini alone in the kitchen.

"So, where were we before we were so rudely interrupted?" Ricky asked Nini, regaining his confidence.

In answer, Nini reached up and kissed Ricky. "That's where we were."

Ricky smiled and said, "You know, I like where we are."

After weeks of angst, despair and missing each other, they'd finally found their way back to each other and they couldn’t be happier. They were back and they were stronger than ever and they loved each other. Everything was perfect.

"Me too."

**Author's Note:**

> follow my wattpad for the original i'm writing! user - @duaazhh  
> stay safe! <3


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